Gateway Arch to become 'iconic national park'

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the St. Louis region has an opportunity to "create one of the iconic national parks of America" with revitalization around the Gateway Arch.

Salazar was joined Friday by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri in a tour of the Arch and the area around it. A project has just begun to redesign the Arch grounds, the area near the Arch and even a park directly across the Mississippi River in East St. Louis, Ill.